


make me real again

by Astrie



Category: Flight Rising
Genre: Digital Art, Dragons, Gen, Original Character(s), the black sands
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-07
Updated: 2019-06-07
Packaged: 2020-04-12 02:56:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19123162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Astrie/pseuds/Astrie
Summary: she thinks of how safe she felt underneath those clouds as a hatchling. they were a blanket draped over her home, holding her sungly and only letting go at night when it was too dark to see what falls beyond the horizon. she thinks of how warm the sky was when she played crab catch with her friends, how vast and all-encompassing the sands felt when she was that small.she thinks of how this coastline never quite seemed so empty, so mundane and colorless back then, when the whole world was glittering; she thinks of the way the sun always feels brighter when you’re paying attention to it.





	make me real again

**Author's Note:**

> this story is part of my flight rising clan's lore! before reading, consider reading the short introductory story, which you can find [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19100062)

if you stand on the black sands and face the ocean, your back will be turned to an open secret. hundreds and hundreds of feet of sheer volcanic cliff, so perfectly dark and hidden that one could live on the sands for years and never see all the caves and crags through the fog. you might even be able to believe that it goes on forever, up and up into the sky, but it has an end. at the very top where the air is thinner and no plants grow, a wildclaw sits.

today was the first time azel had visited this spot in years.

the sheer ribbons and precious stones she wore sat comfortably pooled and settled around her body. their colors were bright against the even expanse of rock, jarringly so. azel cocked her head slightly to the left, considering her presence. she was all of a sudden sharply uneasy, alert, and though she didn’t know it, on guard. she couldn’t place what the feeling quite was. _is it all okay?_ she thought. _my god, what’s wrong? is somebody here?_

the feeling was swelling. azel’s perception felt raw, unfiltered, hyperreal. her shiny eyes hurried from place to place, resting not one breath’s time on each. over and over and over and over and yet no rock nor speck of sand offered illumination any more than the last could. her tail fidgeted back and forth. the rough lava rock dug into her scales uncomfortably, but her muscles were so tensed up that she didn’t care. the black sands were the black sands still, and the tidelord was always with her. that much she knew, as she had always known. though sometimes, she only trusted in such, and that doubt is a rare, itchy feeling that she does not enjoy. 

azel paused. anxiety rattled inside of her head and she exhaled a low groan. perhaps more irritating than her restlessness itself was not being able to know what was setting it off, what was drawing her attention. she inhaled, and then exhaled again. azel’s breathing fell into a heavy rhythm, in and out with the familiar crash of the tide far below. so it was. grey skies and thick, foggy clouds that reached to the ocean as far-off as anybody could see were constant for this and the surrounding coastline. it was something migrants often had trouble growing used to, but azel had always appreciated the hazy quality all of it offered to what sunlight spilled through. so big, so peaceful, so present yet so intangible. what a beautiful home for daydreamers. staring too long into the soft nothing made her feel floaty, but it was a force of habit. she couldn’t help it. 

she thinks of how safe she felt underneath those clouds as a hatchling. they were a blanket draped over her home, holding her snugly and only letting go at night when it was too dark to see what falls beyond the horizon. she thinks of how warm the sky was when she played crab catch with her friends, how vast and all-encompassing the sands felt when she was that small. she thinks of how this coastline never quite seemed so empty, so mundane and colorless back then, when the whole world was glittering; she thinks of the way the sun always feels brighter when you’re paying attention to it. 

she thinks of when the water was warm and full of more fish than any clan could ever eat. she thinks about what it felt like to rest upright in the open ocean, surrounded at every angle by water and magic, so pure and so saturated that drawing upon it was nearly effortless. there in the blue that went on forever and ever she learned to divine, to become suspended, so completely serene and still that your own heartbeat was indistinguishable from the heartbeat of the ocean. you become more awake than you’ve ever been, cosmically present, seeing each current, each blade of kelp, each movement of every fish. if you manage to stay grounded and not immediately panic in the face of totality, the world will become dreamlike, before your lucidity slips away into a state of perfect and absolute attunement with the sea. the tidelord’s presence, his words, his visions- only then would they be able to reach you. azel’s innate talents allowed her to make quick progress as disciple to the clan’s then seer, and soon she was able to reach the state on land. even when she was dry and in her cave, her body always felt floaty when seeing, as if her soul was watching her from the outside.

she thinks of the way the sands were lit with that same magic. two feet on the ground and you felt it- tiny sparks made of life and kinetic light. at night, the beach glowed. mothers purred stories to their hatchlings, telling how when stars fall to sorneith, they always fall to the black sands, because they mistake our shores for their misplaced night-sky-home. when it was clear you could almost mistake the expanse of sand for a mirror, reflecting back the vista above. 

the memories are flush with a feeling that she hadn’t known she’d forgotten. azel desperately wanted nothing more than to hold them as tightly and closely to her heart as space would allow, to bathe in their glow, to experience their wholly- maybe then everything would be be like it was, and everything would be okay, if just for one moment. anxiety turned to deep, deep yearning, if she just reached out and touched it, and it was so close- the sun and sand and sea were right there in her mind just like she had seen them only hours ago-

the memory turned to little more than iridescent mist in her grasp. no! azel’s heart lurched, she clenched her eyes together tighter and tighter, a dull ache looming over her like the shadow of a cloud. _this isn’t how it’s supposed to be! you’re so, so close. please don’t fade away. please don’t go._

but the feeling slipped away. in the moment following, all azel could do was be quiet. the rushing of the waves suddenly sounded so much closer, so much louder. her thoughts were blank, save for the ringing in her ears. had it always been like this? still and cold and quiet? for the first time in her life, the rumbling in her spirit had vanished. azel’s blood ran cold with a deep and terrible fear as she realized just how much she wasn’t used to feeling vulnerable, exposed, and most of all, alone.

**Author's Note:**

> the art at the top of the story is by me! if you [reblogged it on tumblr](https://astrieology.tumblr.com/post/185422778021/she-thinks-of-the-way-the-sands-were-lit-with-that) i'd super appreciate it


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